Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Demon's Librarian ; hot weather

The Demon's Librarian by Lilith Saintcrow

I've been reading this book for about a week. (I think) I usually can finish a book in less time than that, but I keep getting interrupted by life. I have to sleep, play with my granddaughter, play with my grandson when he comes over, make myself do stretches so my shoulders don't freeze up on me, eat, visit with my mom who's here from Panama, play with my little 10 pound ball of terror - SkippyJon, and interact with my family. {oh the hardships! :) } I'm, fortunately off work for the summer {unfortunately for my pocketbook - more time to shop for books, less money to shop with. Ironic is life.}

So I've been reading the Demon's Librarian --> way off topic ensues here--->{when I can stay awake. We've been having heat spells. I'll bet it was 100 degrees here. It is 3:34 in the a.m. and the temperature is still in the 70's. insert scream here---- I melt in hot weather. My brain shuts off and I get so uncomfortable. I know other areas deal with longer and hotter heat waves; but I can't stand any type of heat. 80 degrees feels extreme to me. And, to make things a little harder, I am going through menopause - complete with hot flashes and more hot flashes. yuk. hot flashes and irritability at husband. Does anyone else suffer from this? I think I love my husband, but I have NO patience for tender feelings - unless it's from my grandchildren. Does that make me horrible? probably. I think we should all go to the beach tomorrow and forget our troubles}

Back to the main subject of my post: Once again: So I've been reading The Demon's Librarian. For the first two or three chapters, I had a hard time connecting with the book. This surprises me. I love everything written by Lilith Saintcrow, and have always sank right into whatever novel of hers I am reading. For a while I was wondering what my problem was. It was hard for me to get into the story, or identify with the characters. Today I noticed that I was feeling more into the book. I skimmed back through the beginning again, and it hit me. Ms Saintcrow usually writes in the first person. This book is written in the third person, and uses two main characters' point of view. The interesting thing, and something I think that I like, now anyway, is that instead of writing something like..."Susie Q wondered why her oatmeal was too lumpy....", or "Ms M wondered what was wrong with her husband, couldn't he see she was trying to read?" when her characters were having thoughts, those thoughts were written in first person and italicized (in italics?). I think that at first that made it so the reading didn't really flow for me, but as I got further into the book, it read much more seamlessly. Like you are in their heads, listening in on their sometimes sarcastic thoughts. I am now a little more than halfway through the book and the further I get into it, the more engaged in the book I am and the more I am enjoying this book. I almost feel like I should re-read the first few chapters, but I am way too impatient for that.

I haven't read Ms Saintcrows "Watcher" or "Society" series, so I don't know if those are written in this style. I have read her new YA book (Strange Angels - loved it), her Dante Valentine books (Working for the Devil, through To Hell and Back) and her Jill Kismet books (two of them anyway; Night Shift and Hunter's Prayer). Loved those books - a lot. They are all written in the first person. In fact, now that I'm thinking about them (the books) I think I want to re-read the "Devil" {Dante Valentine} series and for sure I want to read Strange Angels again. Especially now that Betrayals is coming out, the sequel to Strange Angels. Those two books are under the name Lili St.Crow, not Lilith Saintcrow, in case anyone hasn't heard of them yet. For a YA book, I was surprised at how scary the Strange Angels was {I was surprised anyway - I expect adult books to be scarier than YA}. It reminded me of being 18 again and reading The Shining (Stephen King), it being around 1978, and the general (American) public being a little naive still, that book scared me while I was reading it. I had almost the same feeling while reading Strange Angels, heart beating fast, feeling a little jumpy, worried about the main character. Not many books make me feel like that anymore. (or was that just a hot flash? no, really I loved the book.)

I am hoping to finish The Demon's Librarian tomorrow. I have so many TBR books, and just bought Prey {Rachel Vincent} and Street Magic {Caitlin Kittredge} to add to them. In my TBR pile I have another Lilith Saintcrow book, Steelflower. Apparently that one is from her earlier writing career. It's possible I'm remembering wrong, but I think Ms Saintcrow wrote that Steelflower was written before the Dante books, and she's been working on a sequel, but it's a long way off from finished. Steelflower is more fantasy - featuring elves and swords.

Prey will be next book I read, so that I can pass it on to my father when I finish reading it. He loves Rachel Vincent's books. Every book in the series that I've read, he now owns. He keeps my books. Cracks me up. In fact, that is the only series that I haven't kept. Usually, if I like a book enough to buy all the sequels, then I have a spot on my "keeper" shelf for them. Not these ones. My dad has them all. It's cool though, he enjoys them. He's going to be 71 years old, and this is the first fiction series he has read.

Well - it's pathetically late. Once again I have managed to stay up almost all night. I have a serious issue with sleeping at night. Part of the problem is my pain meds have all worn off, and if I take more, than I end up taking the next days' dose before it's time. It's hard to fall asleep when body parts throb and ache. Sleeping pills seem to have the opposite effect on me, or rather no effect. I just stay up a little later, not really feeling like I took anything. My body chemistry is whacked. I need to find out a free way to learn yoga. Internet maybe?

2 comments:

I'm sorry you are having trouble with the heat. I have the same problem. My body is much more sensitive to temperature changes than the typical person. I am either burning up hot or freezing cold- I am rarely just "pretty comfortable". I live in NC and I know I can only live in the middle of the U.S., with D.C. being the absolute most north and upper South Carolina being the absolute most south. My body would just not be able to regulate itself in a more extreme climate. It has a hard enough time as it is! I do hope you can find some relief.

And I look forward to reading your review on this book. It is hard when a fave author changes something up on you, but maybe it is not all for loss.

I have to admit, most of the time we have pretty mild summers. We get some heat, but we normally get cool evenings. I can't stand the warm evening. I actually sat outside (back yard) till 11p.m. last night reading my book. Then when I came in the house was still hot - we had all the windows wide open all night. Then, because I was up so late, I slept til 12:30, missing the cool morning, just to experience and already hot room. I was so pissed at myself. I dozed all afternoon, again. I feel like a swollen, pained, hot slug. Because not only do I have to deal with the absolutely body and brain melting heat, but I also have to deal with the swelling (high blood pressure and being overweight), chronic pain, and the newest malady - a pinched nerve in my lower back that gives me sciatica. I really don't like to bitch so much and sound bitter, but this is my life. It's a good thing that I have my granddaughter and new puppy around for comic relief, because otherwise I might lose it. Mostly myfamily is pretty good, but the main light right now is the grandbabies and the puppy.

What causes the temperature change sensitivity for you? is that part of the fibromyalgia? Is that a nerve pain condition or muscle pain, or both?

I really don't see the point in people having to suffer so much. I hope you laugh alot through everything, cause that's what helps me. other wise, life would be pretty bleak with all this pain crap.

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About Me

I work in a K-8th grade library as a library tech (just one of my jobs). I love working with books, almost as much as I love working with children - sometimes more!
I'm part spanish (Panama)part scottish with mixture of other countries thrown in, born in US. Getting a little older, a little wiser and a little crankier.Two grandchildren, four children, one husband (lol- isn't ONE enough?) two dogs and a cat. I love to read, I love to find new books (new to me), and I'm a little obsessive about buying books. I buy them faster than I can read them. I also love to garden, though it's much harder for me to do so now. I still enjoy having a small flower garden.